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Mystery Publishers

Academy Chicago PublishersAn imprint of the Chicago Review Press. Features a number of interesting authors, most long out of print, plus some other odds and ends, including some horror stories by Conan Doyle.

Crippen & LandruCrippen & Landru publish mystery short story collections. Of particular interest is what they call "Lost Classics," a series of anthologies of mostly uncollected stories by authors who might be enjoyed by a new generation of readers.

Dean Street PressThis small British publisher has a great many classic crime books in its much broader catalog. They are bringing back many Golden Age classics by authors who deserve another chance at a new audience.

Felony & MayhemThis publisher specializes in classic mysteries, broadly defined, including newer mysteries that adhere to classic standards. They have just overhauled their website to make it much more informative and user-friendly.

Langtail PressA fairly new Print On Demand publisher specializing mostly in classic mysteries. The managing director, James Prichard is the great-grandson of Agatha Christie, and his lineage shows. Authors include John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, Anthony Berkeley, and Freeman Wills Crofts, among others. Many are also published as ebooks for the Amazon Kindle.

Locked Room InternationalA small press, specializing in very good English-language translations of (so far) mostly-French authors of locked room and impossible crime stories. They publish in Print-On-Demand and electronic editions.

Merion PressThe Merion Press is an independent publisher of out-of-print works that were originally published over 75 years ago, but are enduring even today.

MysteriousPress.comThe brainchild of editor/anthologist/author/bookstore-owner Otto Penzler, the Mysterious Press has recently returned to life and now works with Open Road Media as an electronic book publisher. It is already republishing the work of a lot of classic authors, with more books on the way.

Oconee Spirit PressA small, independent publisher committed to publishing "lively fiction, and provocative non-fiction." Most of their list covers early works by established authors writing traditional mysteries, such as Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron.

Oleander PressThis small eclectic British publisher has begun publishing a series of classic British mystery novels, primarily from the Golden Age. The series is grouped into a section of their catalogue named "London Bound," as the books are set in London.

Ostara Publishing"Ostara Publishing re-issues titles that have unjustifiably become unavailable either through the ravages of time or the forces of publishing economics. We specialise in Crime and Thriller fiction titles and our range goes from the1920s through to the 21st century. We publish thematically and currently have six series available. All our titles are published in a 'trade paperback' format and printed to order."

Poisoned Pen PressBased in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Poisoned Pen Press publishes a fairly wide variety of mysteries. Some are reprints; many are new, by newer authors. Their website has a great deal of information about their books and authors.

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That means that if you order anything from Amazon through a link from my site or the search box on my page, I get a small commission. As a result, I'd consider it a favor if you would consider making your purchases through my links. As always, though, if you have a local mystery book store, I encourage you to use them as your first choice. For anything else... Thank you.

November 14, 2011

"Murder on the Blackboard"

Have you met Hildegarde Withers? She's the "meddlesome old battleaxe" of a schoolteacher featured in more than a dozen books by Stuart Palmer, not to mention a number of short stories and some movies as well. She brings a teacher's eagle eye and sense of discipline to her avocation - solving crimes along with her friend, New York City police Inspector Oscar Piper.

The third of Palmer's books about Hildy, "Murder on the Blackboard," appeared in 1932. It's the subject of today's review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the full review by clicking here. In "Murder on the Blackboard," the murder takes place right in the room across the hall from Miss Withers' classroom. In fact, Hildy finds the body herself. And when she calls for help, and Inspector Piper arrives on the scene, he is promptly knocked out while searching the building, and he spends much of the remainder of the book in the hospital, while the real detective work is left to Miss Withers, aided (or hindered, depending on your point of view) by the Inspector's police colleagues.

The Hildegarde Withers mysteries generally had a light touch, and that's certainly the case in "Murder on the Blackboard," although both the murder and some of the events in its aftermath are pretty horrific. The murder method, which is revealed only at the end of the book, is pretty unusual as well. Not bad for an American "Golden Age" mystery, and ideal for readers of vintage mysteries. All in all, I think it's one of the better novels in the series.

Comments

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This book is sitting on my bookshelf and mocking me with its "unread" status...

Sounds like a fun read, Les. I highly enjoyed my only encounter with Palmer thus far, in "Happy Hooligan", also starring Miss Withers. Plenty of fun despite one of the most anticlimatic endings to an apprently impossible problem ever.

I have Murder on the Blackboard saved on my DVR -- it was on TCM recently.

I have read only one Withers book, The Silver Persian, which I found rather disappointing. But it appears to be unusual among the series in that there is no Inspector Piper, and no humor at all. I will probably give her another try at some point.

Bob, I haven't seen the movie of Murder on the Blackboard, which seems to be difficult to find...sigh...

I must admit, though, that I did enjoy the book "The Puzzle of the Silver Persian," which I reviewed a few months back ( http://www.classicmysteries.net/2011/02/the-puzzle-of-the-silver-persian.html ). Yes, Inspector Piper was missing - but then it WAS set in England. Take a look at the movie of Murder on the Blackboard - if it's reasonably faithful to the book, you should enjoy it.